Assemblies for carrying personal articles are ubiquitous devices having utility in a wide variety of circumstances. More specifically, bags having shoulder straps may be used for transporting personal items, baby articles, electronic devices, sports equipment, and many other types of articles. Examples of known assemblies having shoulder-engaging straps include those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,028 issued to Linday, U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,363 issued to Fenton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,474 issued to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,833 issued to Smith, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,127 issued to Klug. Although desirable results have been achieved, such designs may cause discomfort, fatigue, or other undesirable effects to the wearer. Therefore, assemblies that mitigate such undesirable effects would have considerable utility.